Wild Billionaire Romance - Chapter 55: Chapter 55

I had to look away. Marat must have felt something similar, because he cleared his throat. A sign he was uncomfortable. The arm he had around my shoulders loosened, and I couldn’t help despair from filling me.
Awareness was a cruel bitch sometimes. Crushing dreams and bulldozing hope. It slapped me in the face, hard, just then, and I felt the sting all the way to my marrow.
I will never have what they have.
“Excuse me,” I said, standing up.
“Dumplin’, are you okay?” Marat asked, sounding concerned.
“Yes. Sorry, I just need the restroom.”
“It’s on the way to the nursery. Come on.”
Sofia offered to show me, and I waved away Marat’s offer to accompany me. I didn’t need a babysitter. I could pee and find my way back to the party just fine on my own.
Fuck.
I liked to pride myself on being secure in my own skin. But right then, nothing felt right. Not my clothes or my shoes or my hair. Not the heavy sapphire on my finger. Or the ornate house and grounds around me.
There was nothing wrong with any of that stuff. It was me. I was the common denominator in all of it. I was the square peg trying to fit in the round hole.
I don’t belong.
The feeling was overwhelming, and I blinked back the tears welling in my eyes.
Why did we have to come here?
I was almost okay with the lie I was living with Marat. Every day I pretended not to fall for him a little more. I took his touches and kisses with glee. Like a greedy child gorging on sweets, uncaring about the repercussions.
But I wasn’t a child. I knew the price I’d pay for ignoring my heart, I just didn’t know I was going to have to pay it so soon.
Yeah, I’d been fooling myself, thinking I could be okay with a loveless marriage. But that was not me. I led with my heart. And it wasn’t like Marat wooed me. Hell, he didn’t even propose. He just tricked me into this whole thing.
Anger surged, and it was better than the feeling hopeless. Goddamn him.
I should have demanded an annulment the second he told me what he did. But I didn’t. So, we were married.
Just like that.
I was so pathetic. Tears spilled over onto my cheeks, and I wiped them absently.
I was so fucked up and so lonely. So sad and desperate that I was willing to believe this man—with his fallen angel looks and billions of dollars, with his effortless charm and seductive smile—wanted me.
A thirty year old waitress with too many curves and not enough scruples.
I was delusional. Or just plain dumb. You name it. That was me.
I gladly took the crumbs Marat tossed me and clutched them to my chest like they were something dear. He didn’t love me. He never made me any promises. He didn’t have to.
Hell, he barely had to crook his finger in my direction. I was putty in his hands.
This was all me. The hope I refused to look at was mine. Not his. Not put there or encouraged by him in any way.
I was the one who secretly nurtured it inside my innermost heart. The desperate wish Marat would one day fall for me was my own.
And as I walked down the beautifully decorated hallway of his brother’s house that same private plea seized inside my chest, dying an agonizing death as I finally forced myself to face it.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Staying with Marat after he’d tricked me into marrying him had seemed like a better idea than being alone at the time.
But after watching that moment of tenderness between Adrik and Sofia, I wasn’t so sure.
In fact, I was downright certain I couldn’t continue with our sham of a marriage. I just couldn’t deal with the fact he would never look at me the way Adrik looked at Sofia.
He wouldn’t ever love me. Facing that simple truth just broke my heart.
“I can’t believe you have the nerve to show up here. You know, I wondered if you would still be around,” a sharp voice interrupted my thoughts, and I looked up to see someone exiting the bathroom I’d been on my way to use.
Sofia had pointed it out before hurrying off to the nursery to calm a crying Michaela. I’d been so wrapped up in my head, I hadn’t paid any attention to the passing of time since I wandered down the hall to the large, distressed door. It looked like one of those things they found in an abandoned barn on the home improvement network.
Some interior designer, who probably charged a bajillion dollars, must have dug it out of some condemned structure in West Virgina or some such place. They likely brought it back to New York City, had it repurposed, and slapped a five-digit price tag on it.
Beautiful.
When I lived in Vegas, one of my roommates was addicted to the DIY channel. She loved shit like that.
The memory was fleeting as I took in the elegantly dressed blonde standing in front of the beautifully restored door. She lifted her pointed chin, staring down her nose at me like I was beneath her.
Maybe she was right. I was beyond caring.
Still, she looked vaguely familiar. I just couldn’t place her.
“Do I know you?” I asked, then I remembered.
Tessa McNeil. That was her name. She was beautiful and bitter, like so many women. Too many.
“Oh, we met at the awards dinner in Vegas,” I said.
“That’s right, Destiny,” she said my name like it was a joke.
Maybe it was. Maybe the joke was on me.
“I have to admit, I didn’t expect Marat would keep you around this long. He can’t be serious about a little nobody like you,” she said, stepping closer.
Malice oozed from her, and I was in no mood. I straightened my spine. I wasn’t a waitress here. I was Mrs. Marat fucking Volkov. And whether or not I remained his wife, this bitch had nothing to do with it.
“You know he’s too good for you, don’t you? You're just some flavor of the week. A full fat macchiato with extra calories. You’ll give him everything you’ve got, and it won’t be enough. He’ll tire of you soon. He’ll move on to a new flavor. He always does,” she hissed with venom.
My empathy went only so far, and this woman was being rude and hostile.
“Is that what happened to you?” I asked, seeing through her bravado to the hurt woman beneath. “Did you give him everything, Tessa? And did Marat move on too fast for your liking? I’m sorry he hurt you,” I said and meant it.
“W-what? Sorry? How dare you feel sorry for me?” she scoffed, stepping back.
“You’re just jealous. He is one of the most sought after bachelors in the world! He’s been courted by royalty, movie stars, billionairesses. His star is so bright, he couldn’t even see you if you were traveling in the same orbit,” she hissed.
I frowned. She wasn’t wrong. Marat was in a class all his own. But the picture she painted was so sad.
Maybe he felt alone, too. Maybe that was why he chose me.
“You feel sorry for me? I’m beautiful, thin, and rich. I am everything he needs on his arm. You’ll be sent back to the gutter he found you in, and I’ll be right here. Right in his path. I’ll have him. Yes, I will,” she announced like it was some sort of victory.
“You’re right about some of it, Tessa. You know, once upon a time, you would have been everything I wished I could be. Thin, beautiful, rich. But that was before I knew better,” I added, keeping my voice even. “Beauty fades and money comes and goes. You should know that, Tessa.”
“What the hell are you on about⁠—”
“It’s not your turn to talk yet,” I said, cutting her off and gritting my teeth. “You know, I worked really hard to like myself, to be okay with who I am, outside and inside. And that was before I met Marat. So, I am sorry to disappoint you, but no I’m not jealous of you. I feel sorry for you.”
“You bitch!”
“Don’t do that. Don’t go there. It’s beneath us as women to turn on each other just because someone else got the man you wanted. There are other fish in the sea, Tessa.”
“But none like him,” she said, stomping her foot like a petulant child.
“You’re right about that. But could you really be happy with a man who didn’t love you?” I asked and turned my back on her before I revealed too much.
No longer interested in the bathroom or the party, I walked farther into the house, hoping to find an empty room. Instead, I found my brother-in-law. He’d been leaning against the wall, listening to the uncomfortable discourse between Tessa and me.
“Oh! You scared me,” I said, lifting my hand to my throat.
“Apologies,” he grumbled. “Tell me how you did it.”
“How I did what?” I asked, not understanding.
“How you tricked Marat into marrying you,” he explained.
I squared my shoulders and inhaled a deep breath.
“You know, I would have thought someone with a nickname like the Dark Wolf would have better resources when sniffing around for information,” I snapped, crossing my arms.
Adrik raised his eyebrows, but he didn’t interrupt. And I was on a roll.
“Josef can tell you all about the wedding ceremony since I wasn’t even awake for most of it. Yes, you’re right. There was trickery involved, but it wasn’t mine,” I stated.
“I believe you,” he said after a long, drawn out moment, and just like that, my anger dissolved.
“Are you okay, Korotyshka?” he asked, his familiar dark eyes searching mine.
“I-I don’t know.”
It was an honest answer, and the only one I could give. Adrik just nodded, gesturing with his hand for me to walk in front of him.
“What does Korotyshka mean?”
“Hmm? It’s nothing. Closest Russian word to Dumplin’.”
“Oh.”
“I would not call you that because it is my brother’s word for you and he would be offended,” he explained.
I stepped slowly, uneasy with the Dark Wolf prowling behind. But it was only a short distance back to the party. Back to Marat.
“There you are. Everything alright?” he asked, his eyes searching mine.
“I’m not feeling great,” I told him.
“Are you sick? Do you need a hospital?”
“What? No. It’s just a stomachache. But I’d like to go. I can catch a ride share or a cab⁠—”
“No. If you’re sick, we will leave together. I’ll get the car, you wait here.”
He leaned down and kissed my temple before he walked towards the valet. I closed my eyes and willed myself not to cry.
It was time for me to face the facts. If I stayed with him, he was going to destroy me. Tessa was a bitch for saying what she did. But she wasn’t entirely wrong.
I was an oddity. Something new. And he was entertained for now. But what would happen to me when he grew bored? No, I couldn’t handle that.
I was already half in love with the man. Staying with him would be emotional suicide. There was no other recourse.
I have to leave.
MARAT
Volkov Towers was located close enough to the penthouse that I sometimes walked to the office.
In fact, I did just that morning. Destiny had gone to sleep early last night, and in deference to her stomachache I’d stayed on my side of the bed, allowing her to rest and recover.
It sucked. Big time.
But concern for my wife’s health outweighed my need to fuck her. Another first. I couldn’t remember a time when I gave two shits about someone’s well-being.
I kept waking up with my body pressed against her soft curves. My cock ready to blow from the barest of touches against her sublime ass. I’d force myself to move back, to give her space. But eventually I’d find myself pressed back against her.
She was sick, for fuck’s sake. And I was a fucking pig, getting turned on while she was suffering. I kissed her head and told her to stay in bed, I had some correspondence to take care of at the office, anyway.
I dressed, hauled my ass to the office, placing a bottle of water next to Destiny before I left. The woman was killing me.
I felt like the fucking Grinch, the Jim Carrey version not the cartoon, in that scene at the end where his heart was growing too fast. It hurt so bad the infamous character screamed and clutched at it with his furry fucking fingers.
The Grinch? Really? What the fuck was wrong with me?
My phone buzzed and I read the message Josef sent to Adrik and me. His second, Darius, was filling in for him over the next few days. Apparently, he had some emergency he needed to oversee.
That was odd and unlike him. The only real emergency I’d known Josef to have over the past couple of years was a spur-of-the-moment trip to Switzerland when his chocolate supplies ran low. He was fucking addicted to the stuff.
Speaking of addictions.
I grabbed my cell phone and sent a text to Destiny.
Wife, How are you feeling? If your stomach still hurts, I can have my personal physician come to the penthouse to check on you. Call me when you wake up, so I know what you want me to do.
I held the phone for a few seconds, expecting her to reply right away. But she didn’t, and I shook my head. Of course not. She was probably still asleep.
I busied myself answering emails and checking over reports. One of our mines had experienced a significant increase in work related accidents and I frowned as I read the latest communication from the onsite manager.
Problems in this business almost always cropped up. Some were simply unavoidable, but I was working to change that. I wanted to improve conditions for the workers, and for the towns bordering the mines themselves by bringing in better waste management and clean water sources.
Another email came in on the heels of the last one. This one was marked urgent. And it was from the managers of one of our mines in the Murmansk region of Russia. The same mine I was using to test my greener initiative.
Shit.
I read his missive twice, needing to ensure I was translating correctly. There’d been an explosion at that same mine, located in eastern Russia in the Murmansk region. I had Adrik on the phone in seconds, and we plotted out a plan of action. We added Josef to the call, he was part of the planning after all, but there was no need for him to return from his emergency. Darius knew what he was doing, and he would be a fine fill in.
But there was no way around the fact I was going to have to go there to investigate the matter personally. The government needed reassurance, palms had to be greased, and more importantly Volkov Industries had to let the world know we would always protect what was ours.
If this was an attack from one of our rivals, or sabotage, we would uncover it. Nothing stayed secret for long in this world, especially not when you had our money and power.
Volkov Industries was a force to be reckoned with. But every now and again, someone had to test our strength. I didn’t mind. I was more than fucking ready for it.
We would account for all our employees, ensure their health and safety. And we needed to guard the mine.
My thoughts went back to my wife, and I frowned. If she was sick, I didn’t want to bother her with all this. But I had to leave, and I could not go without saying goodbye.
I could check on her, then head to the airport.
Mind made up, I stood to leave my cell phone still pressed to my ear.
“Are you sure you can handle this, brother?” Adrik asked.
“I’m positive. It’s time the world knew there was more than one wolf in our family.”